East End
by fallen angel overlord
Summary: Chapter three, a fight with Inque, The Oracle makes and appearance and Blind Date for Jamie. Also this was a very rushed chapter, my appologies and any ideas on how it might be improved will go toward a repost. REVIEW PLEASE!
1. Dead Doornails

EAST END  
  
Dedicated to CATgrl because she's THE cat girl---Cat...Girl...need I say more?  
  
....  
  
Probably  
  
A/N: I f y'all want a character you have to ask the same to archive my stories. But who'd want one of my lame characters? In case you're wondering Batman doesn't get a big play up here. This story has bigger parts for Max, Commissioner Gordon, the villains of the new and old series and...JASON BLOOD (yeah the ugly demon guy) makes quite a few appearances. In addition I'll be tossing in special guest appearances but this story won't get big attention until I finish my Fatale Fury fic fittingly... oh look! Try repeating that with fifty-five fish fingers at the end...  
  
Okay I need to come down off the ceiling...pass the spatula.  
  
-----Chapter 1: Dead Doornails-----  
  
Jamie Carter pushed her long brown-blonde hair off her face and breathed out as much stress pent up beneath her skin as possible. And still, if stress were electricity, she could have powered Central City, Gotham, Metropolis and the larger side of Opal too.  
  
The phone beside her began to ring. She swivelled away from the drawing desk and picked it up. "Parisian Cosmetics East End Offices, Art Department, Jamie Carter speaking".  
  
"Hey girl!" the voice on the other end said with an audible grin.  
  
"Max!" Jamie exclaimed. "I don't believe it! How are you?"  
  
"Great, I just heard you moved here from Northburgshire" Max said. "Why didn't you call me?"  
  
"I had just graduated Oxbridge" chuckled Jamie. "I was concerned with self- preservation...how's the hunt for college going?"  
  
"Smooth" Jamie grinned. "I'm going for psychology in UCG. You? Let me guess... you've been offered a scholarship in Cromwell University in England...watch out Muffins in that area suck".  
  
"You'd know ya limey," laughed Max. "Nah I'm going to UCG too. A few friends and me are leaving Hamilton Hill for good old UCG!"  
  
"Well, I'll see you there then" grinned Jamie. "Say, you don't want to meet up for coffee at the weekend? You, me and a few of your friends---I'd bring mine but they don't exist."  
  
Max laughed. "You just don't let people near"  
  
"Last time I did that I lost someone close too me" Jamie said sadly.  
  
"Serge?" Max said solemnly. "I visited his grave last week...I can't believe what happened."  
  
"Armed robberies, things happen" nodded Jamie. "Men get shot in the head and fall into their girlfriends' arms. How does Saturday at 6:00 sound?"  
  
"Great, See you at Java Galaxy" Max said. Jamie put the phone down and turned back to her sketches for the new lipstick brand. "My life defies the limitations of the physical. It both sucks and blows."  
  
St. Nicholas St. Peter looked out the window of the penthouse. He held the glass of water in his hand. "St. David...please stop that". The sound of the ball bouncing off the wall ceased.  
  
"And so...it begins" sighed the younger boy. Nick had black hair, pale skin and green eyes, taking after his smother while David took after their mother. David had blue eyes, blonde hair and sallow skin. Two sides of the same coin.  
  
"What?" Nick exclaimed as if offended.  
  
"The tension. You need a girlfriend...boyfriend...inflatable friend...psychic friend or all of the above" David said, listing them off on his fingers. "And pleas say that you don't SERIOUSLY think you can do this alone?"  
  
"You're not coming David" Nick said.  
  
"Could you stop me?"  
  
Nick turned and hurled the dagger into the wall. "Yes".  
  
David shook his head. "Come back alive, you're (regrettably) the only living relative I have left...unless you count Granddame and Crazy Cousin Ernest."  
  
"Which half-the-time I don't," Nick said. "But the East End is the best place to start, Batman can have the rest of the city, he's a lightweight."  
  
"Yeah, you could beat him" David grinned.  
  
Jamie hurried down the street. Her car pool had quite happily given her seat to the gorgeous blonde Vivienne from Accounts and left her to walk home.  
  
"Well at least it's not raining" she sighed tugging on her long PVC jacket. The water came thundering down. She gave a groan and pulled on her black stocking cap. She sprinted down the road her satchel bouncing on her hips. "You keep your mouth shut Bianca-Jamelia Carter" she harped, mimicking her mother. "Men don't like a girl—WITH A GODDAMN JINX ON HER HEAD!"  
  
She sloshed through a puddle of cold water. "Ugh I should never have left Northburgshire" she grumbled. She reached her apartment thoroughly drenched and exceptionally unhappy.  
  
Her three-room apartment "greeted" her, much like Norman Bates greeted a guest. Happy to see her but slightly psychotically so. The instant she shut the door there was a banging. She sighed and opened it. "Hello Lenny" she groaned as the landlord (stereotype #23: Bald on top, stained vest, major beer belly, zilch on bodily hygiene and absolutely no sense of decency) filled her doorframe.  
  
"Yer late with the rent again" he growled.  
  
"Well you did up it by 40 creds" muttered Jamie. She walked over to her kitchen and opened the cookie jar. Lenny spied it.  
  
I have a suspicion he's the one making my underwear and 20 cash creds disappearthought Jamie. "Here you go Lenny," she said aloud in her sharp English drawl.  
  
"Next months up by another 10" he stated as he took the cash and vanished down the hall. Jamie shut the door with a sigh. And there was more banging at the door.  
  
Jamie sighed louder and opened the door. "Hello Mr Crivitz" she groaned as the old geezer in a robe with wild hair brandished his trumpet at her.  
  
"Your cat..."  
  
"My what?"  
  
"Your CAT" repeated the man. "Was sleeping in my flower pots!"  
  
"WHAT CAT?" the exasperated Jamie shouted.  
  
"That one!" Mr Crivitz pointed. Jamie looked slowly over her shoulder, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "A cat? It must be a stray". The white short hair turned its glowing blue gaze on her.  
  
"Don't let me catch it near my house again!"  
  
"Yes Mr Crivitz" sighed Jamie as if she were a pupil being berated by a teacher. She shut the door and walked over to the cat. It purred...Jamie sneezed. "I'm sort of allergic to cats." She sneezed again. "Sorry, I'll get you s-some milkachooo!"  
  
She grabbed a carton of milk and a saucer from the fridge and cupboard respectively. A sigh escaped her again. "You know, I amn't sure where you- " she looked at the white and blue basket in the corner. "-Or your basket, came from but its kind of comforting to have another gal to talk to. I assume you're a girl of course unless the female symbol by your name on the basket is just a clever decoy."  
  
She stroked its hair. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Mist".  
  
She rubbed her new cats neck and stifled a sneeze as she pulled off her heavy Doc Martins. She examined Mists odd Egyptian collar of gold with turquoise stones as she spoke. "How does someone become so walked on and so invisible?" she smiled at the cat. "Well Ms. Mist it takes years of hard work and dedication to the cause and of course a pathetic social life."  
  
She picked up the picture of herself and Max Gibson sitting on the beach with Serge. Her boyfriend. She'd left Northburgshire, England to start a life in Gotham after he'd been killed. She'd finished school in Gallant High and...survived. Because this was where Serge was buried and she couldn't leave him. Not yet.  
  
Serge had been like the old movie star in his prime, Antonio Banderas, long black hair, Hispanic, deep brown eyes and a super cute smile.  
  
He'd died in her arms after an armed robbery they'd walked in on turned ugly. She had seen the faces of the killers. They'd gotten away scot-free because she'd been too afraid to speak up.  
  
The guilt ravaged her body and mind endlessly. She'd never get another chance; those two would never be caught. She'd survived because she'd hidden under the shelving units. She'd always been good at hiding.  
  
"I miss you Serge," she whispered. She picked up her sketchpad and began to sketch a symbol. Just something in her head...  
  
And then it hit her. "I forgot to get Max's number!" she groaned. "I give up, I can but pray she doesn't need to reschedule!" With a sigh she looked at her drawings. The fact was she'd never get far in the art project because she was reserved and afraid to branch out or do things differently.  
  
She walked into her room and pulled her bed out of the wall with a groan. "Well cat, any chance you can check my messages?"  
  
A blip answered Jamie as the messaging machine came on. She walked out and looked at the kit looking down at the machine, it turned its gaze to her and they stared at one another followed by another blip.  
  
"Hello Jamie, it's Maureen Hill from the Winter Gardens Apartment Block. Look Mrs Franz was rushed into hospital. She just had a bad turn and says that you usually drop by to her. She wants you to water her plants."  
  
"Poor Mrs Franz" Jamie sighed as she thought about the sweet old woman she visited regularly. A small little woman with a dry wit and keen senses who was kind to Jamie so frequently it was incredible. She was tough and strict but kind and gentle. And above all she had some sort of respect for Jamie.  
  
"Hello Janey Cartman" a voice said. "My name is Joe...I am calling to ask if you have ever wondered what is happening Why are we---what? Jamie Carter? Okay--- have you JAMIE ever considered the big questions about life? Our religion the New-"  
  
Jamie hit the machine and skipped to the messages. "This is great," she said.  
  
"Hi, Jamie? It's Adrian, look I just wanted to give you a heads up. Madison Evers is loading your coffee order with laxative tomorrow."  
  
"At least I know how popular I am" Jamie sighed.  
  
"Hi, Jamie. It's Adrian again. Madison's put worms in your desk drawer tomorrow."  
  
"The party never stops on my answering machine Mist, if you're lucky you'll not be as popular". She groaned and stared at her ceiling. "Well let's see what microwave meals I have."  
  
She opened her fridge and found it totally bare. "Insult to injury Lenny, underwear, creds and my food?"  
  
She grabbed her coat and looked at Mist. She gave a sneeze. "I'll get you some fish."  
  
"Oh Lenny thanks for eating me out of house and home, and upping my rent so I actually have neither. Yes you're benevolent and kind, oh and so handsome and I wouldn't guess you don't bathe unless a new health inspector you haven't bribed appears. Which hasn't happened for – as far as I know – ten years." Jamie groaned and slapped her forehead with her palm as she stopped at the corner. "Why can you never say this stuff to a persons face?"  
  
She turned and scampered across the road at an angle. "Right...now...fish, microwave meals, bread, milk, eggs, butter, lettuce, tomatoes, turkey, mayo and pretty much the makings for a sandwich...carbonated sugar drinks that rot teeth, a tub or three of ice cream because the Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks marathon is on later...all 28 movies...and that means Kleenex too".  
  
Jamie paused as she reached the bridge in the park. She squinted and through the mists she could see a group of people. Four of them were just clowns. The other was a ringmaster in a clown costume holding a machine gun.  
  
The four others stood near a large Rolls Royce the colour of gold. The first was a woman in a short, navy, double-breasted coat that was actually her skirt and a chauffeur's cap. Her bobbed black hair was tinted blue and she gazed coldly around searching for people. Jamie held her breath...this woman had a submachine gun in her gloved hands.  
  
The next was a huge man in a trench coat; his long matted and curled black hair pouring down from under his hat. He was about 7 foot! He stood rigidly and there was something unnatural about him.  
  
The other two held Martini glasses. The woman had slightly pointed features and blonde hair that was as straight as straw. Her ice blue eyes surveyed the men with disgust and contempt. She wore a tight black business suit that accented her every curve and was actually pretty skimpy considering the cold January weather.  
  
The man had brown hair, expertly kept, and tied back in a ponytail. The moustache and beard was confined to around his mouth only and he wore a black turtleneck and jacket.  
  
"Now, now, now Mr Skuller" the man sighed. "Threats can prove quite deadly- to you. You'll see the odds are against you in this situation. We want the merger of crime syndicates."  
  
"And what we want, we get" the blonde woman said. "Now Mr Skuller are you really willing to risk castration for your Circus Gang?"  
  
"Look-" started Skuller.  
  
"Gentlemen" the blonde woman said as she addressed the clowns behind him. "The Red Triangle Circus gang has been completely abandoned for years now. A few small time acts of vandalism in the East End. We offer you a chance to become a part of something much bigger!"  
  
"Hey ya talk to me!" the ringleader called Skuller exclaimed. With a sigh the woman handed her Martini to the tall man and pulled two gold plated magnums from the back of her trousers before she shot Skuller dead.  
  
"There, happy?" she snorted.  
  
"Darling you're so ruthless" the man gasped and wrapped an arm around her waist. She took her martini and the pair knocked them back before glancing at the shocked clowns.  
  
Survival had always played high on Jamie's list. She swallowed the urge to scream and turned to escape across the bridge. A rat scampered under her feet. She gave squeak of fear like an idiot...her heart stopped. All eyes were on the bridge.  
  
"Kill please" the man instructed.  
  
The machine guns opened fire...Jamie shrieked in unsuppressed fear and tried to run. A bullet hit her in the leg and she fell against the railings, trying to hobble away. And then something clinked into the bridge and started to hiss. A grenade!  
  
Great I stumble on one of the few East End gangs that decide to throw grenades around like freaking party favours! She scrambled onto the bridge wall and jumped. She shrieked as a stone grazed her in the back of the head at an angle, she slammed through the ice with the back of her head and shoulders...the current trapped her, snaring her in its grip and dragging her along beneath the ice...she croaked, a cloud of precious bubbles flooding from her lips as she was pulled along.  
  
Back at the park the man looked to his wife. "I do hope we got whoever that was darling" he sniffed as he turned to the Rolls Royce.  
  
"Ah yes, as do I cherub" the woman cooed.  
  
Jamie punched the ice; over and over...her fists were bloodied and torn. She saw the ice crack, but her limbs couldn't...just, couldn't---move---at---all-- - A final surge of energy and she smashed up through the ice. Her lands scrabbled at the ice, digging her nails into the ice trying to pull herself out before...she slid back into the water...her hand trailed until several large cats pounced on it as others gripped her sleeve with their claws and hauled her out, the cats surround the cracks in the hole and used their claws to drag her up. Mist scampered forwards, the cats parted and let her through she scampered to Jamie's face, a blue smoke drifted from Mist and her collar glowed. The winged pattern shimmered and the large turquoise stone it had as the body of its wingspan glowed.  
  
Mist pounced on Jamie's stomach and the cold water burst from the woman's mouth she opened her eyes, the narrowed into feline slits. She sat up slightly and coughed. "W-what? Mist?" she murmured sitting up, shivering.  
  
Jamie staggered in her door and Mist scampered ahead. Jamie slammed the door with her foot and entered her bathroom. She limped on her wounded leg. She'd been lucky, the bullet had passed right through her calf...odd definition of lucky...she stared into her mirror and looked deep into her reflections eyes.  
  
"Well, this is an interesting turn of events" she said slowly in a more confident and sultry voice. She examined her leg and stared. The bullet hole was gone...a pale scar left in its wake. "Hmmm" she said as if considering a philosophical question.  
  
She turned the shower taps, they juddered and spat minimal water out...she hissed and with a snarl kicked the alcove wall. The burst of water exploded out. 20 minutes later, dressed in one of Serge's old white shirts and her underwear she walked over to her window and looked at the rusted old lock. She gripped it and forced it up. The cats poured in.  
  
"Yes Ms Mist there's a new cat in town" Jamie sighed and looked around her white apartment. "And she needs to remodel..."  
  
She sauntered over to her arts kit and pulled out the spray cans of paint and blasted the walls slowly. She drew a twisting spiral of colour here; a cloud of texture there and then turned her attention on the wardrobe. She grabbed her pathetic pink clothes and tossed them into a basin. "And a new wardrobe" she sighed.  
  
Jamie walked over to the fridge and pulled out the milk. She knocked it back and let it trickle down her front. "Well Mist," she whispered. "I feel so...Me"  
  
She poured the milk into a pristine little saucer and hopped onto her bed. "And it's Good to be Me!" she smiled as she stretched.  
  
The Art offices were set into two areas. On one side were the art desks where the artists drew and the cubicles where the employees scanned the pictures in or used the computers to send e-mails. It was set on the second floor of the building, well lit and white. The back of the room had another huge set of stone stairs leading up to the executive offices.  
  
Madison Evers was tall, blonde and beautiful...dressed in a skimpy blouse and skirt of rose pink material. She spotted the plain black wool hat and long black jacket with the satchel on one side that was synonymous with a neon sign declaring Jamie Carter's presence.  
  
"Here's comes Shame-y Jamie!" she whispered. All eyes turned as they waited. It was normal for Jamie to immediately run into her cubicle and wait until a group of the others had decided to go to their art tables so she could sneak along behind them.  
  
They were stunned when she unbuttoned her coat and pulled off her hat shaking out her copper-blonde locks and let everyone get a good look at the fact she was wearing a dark green blouse closed only on her upper chest and revealing her naval, she was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans that had apparently been slashed open at various (relatively discreet) places.  
  
Just breathed...the world is your –aheh- Catwalk  
  
She strode down the white linoleum tiles, the slightly heeled black boots hidden under her trousers. She winked at Adrian Wantanabe one of her few friends. He was Asian, black haired and wore a pair of glasses that were just right for him. He stared at her with a smile on his face and then mimed drinking a cup of coffee with a warning look.  
  
Tossing her hair over her one shoulder (It was rather short but usually tied up by a clumsy clip) she marched up to Madison and the cabal of insulting bullies. "Hello Maddy! Kiss-kiss!" she kissed the air in front of each of Madison's cheeks without moving anywhere near the woman. "I love that outfit, skimpy yet business like, no wonder you're so popular with Mr Harris in the exec offices."  
  
Madison opened her mouth but Jamie poked her in the ribs. "I'm just buzzin' ya Maddy, you don't mind if I call you Maddy right? Okay" Jamie smiled. "Coffee?" she handed Madison a cup. "A little toast to new beginnings."  
  
Madison didn't protest she took the cup and took a long draught.  
  
"Wait a second" Jamie said. "This isn't my cup...why, by coincidences of coincidences it's yours Maddy!"  
  
Madison's eyes widened. "Oh" she managed and made a break for the toilets. Jamie emptied her cup out and put it in the sink. "Guess it disagreed with her."  
  
Jamie relaxed back in the chair with a sigh. "Call Max, Call. I need to tell someone," she muttered. She paused as Madison gave a disgusted shriek at finding earthworms in her drawer...it was followed by a shriek of surprise and rage when she found herself glued to her chair.  
  
"That felt good" Jamie exhaled with satisfaction. She looked down at the cat in her desk drawer. "Yes I know its unethical but I'm not letting a person walk over me."  
  
"Meeting with Bruce Wayne at 4" reported David. Nick put the over laden weights up on the benches frame and nodded. "Then you don the costume and kick butt."  
  
"Goodie, what about the Von Stone's?" yawned Nick. He examined the rack of weapons on the gym wall  
  
"They rescheduled for Monday afternoon," David said. "So you can get out and cruise for a few women..."  
  
The sword Nick had been examining blurred from his hands and struck the wall by his brother's ear. David didn't flinch; he opted instead to be offended. "Don't get into a snit about it Nick" he muttered.  
  
"David" Nick snapped. "We've been through this over and over. And we both know that I can never...I'll never..." his voice lowered to a whisper. "What woman could love something like me? I'm not smart, funny or attractive...I can never find love".  
  
"Says you" David cut in. "People Magazines top 100 Most Gorgeous Billionaires disagrees considering that you're number 3 and...what's the word? They used "hunk-a-liscious" and of course "yummy" a lot..."  
  
"It's not that simple! How can anyone love a man who has two faces? Who...who is barely human, clinging to that piece of humanity tooth and nail? I have women but I can't stay with them...look at me"  
  
"You look like a man," David said.  
  
"I'm not!!!!" roared Nick and put his fist through the mirror. David shook his head. "I'm not," whispered Nick, staring at the red blood tined with black seeping from his knuckles.  
  
David shook his head. "There's a deal for a Triad gang going through tonight, I'll prep the bike and stuff for you now if you want."  
  
Nick just leaned against the unbroken mirror. And slid down to sit on the ground with a shuddering sigh. David left his brother...he needed to have time...  
  
Jamie pushed in the door and kicked off her boots.  
  
"Hey cats!" she called. She paused and walked over to Mist who was sitting on a strange costume.  
  
A leather catsuit with a corset and black straps across the chest and a small silver belt of locked together diamonds that followed the downwards curve of her hips. She looked at the choker with a cat's-eye emerald in it and then picked up the strange small black and green fan. Jamie snapped it open curiously and found its tips were razor sharp. She picked up the small cowl and then the costume. There was lace on the breast of the corset, like a pirate woman's and a flowing sash of it down the back though it was tattered there.  
  
"But what kind of shoes do you wear with this?" she muttered.  
  
The cats meowed and attracted her attention to the knee-high boots with four-inch high heels that were thankfully flat and thick. She glanced at them and sighed. "You want me to put this on don't you?"  
  
The cats meowed. She groaned and looked at the boots. "They have no support I can tell you," she muttered. Jamie looked at the thigh holsters and pulled out the large clubs. "What are these for?" She waved them, there was a metallic hiss and they burst out into fans of slender blades shaped like peacock feathers but with cats eye patterns on them. "This really is impressive," Jamie said. "I can kick butt and cool at the same time."  
  
She emerged from the room in full costume. "Actually, good support and a nifty looseness to it...for a skin tight ensemble that's impressive!" The cats mewled in support. Then Mist lifted the blue blanket in her basket and revealed a long silver handled cat-o-nine-Tails whip.  
  
Kneeling as she pulled on her gloves and clipped on the gauntlets, Jamie looked into the basket at the whip. "Wow...hang on now...cat's... whip...East End? This sounds familiar..."  
  
She picked out the black card on the whip and read the white scribbling.  
  
"Every cat needs a nine-Tails and her nine lives...cross someone's path and bring law to the East end...signed, Catwoman."  
  
Jamie rose and took the picture of Serge up to glance at her departed darling's face. "Maybe I can make amends now Serge, I will, I will do this! I'll find them!" the Alley Cat swore to the picture with all her heart.  
  
TBC  
  
NEXT TIME:  
  
Alley Cat makes her appearance; Bruce and Co meet the St. Peter's who really can't count on meeting St. Peter himself. Jamie gets a date with a fella called Skip (bound to end badly). The people gathering the gangs are revealed as villains and Dusk and Alley Cat have a fight that just complicates things! 


	2. Butting heads

EAST END  
  
Fly: Glad you liked it, Review again!  
  
CATgrl: Thanks for your support, this is dedicated to you! Unless you don't like it in which case never mind...ay-hem...  
  
A/N: Awwww! No more reviews then the above? Ah well...I'm in a good mood. For now...spookyspookyspooky  
  
Oh and General Lee Twisted: THERE IS NO POSSIBLE SLASH HERE SO STOP ASKING!!!!!!!!  
  
Chapter 2: Butting Heads  
  
The tattered cloak only reached the small of his back. It was dark red and the hood had a serpentine point slithering behind him in the wind. His outfit was black but for the chest plate that was grey with a bandoleer across his chest crossed by a satchel strap. He removed a flute from his belt as he landed on the rooftop and put it to his lips. "Attack dogs...my, the criminal element really branch out," he muttered.  
  
He lunged off the rooftop and spread the tattered cloak, gliding on the wind current to land on the roof of the decrepit building. He placed the flute to his lips, looking down at the splicer size-increased hounds below.  
  
The silence of the flute affected the dogs. They all simultaneously slumped to one side and Dusk scrambled down the side of the building, his fingers adhering to the wall through his black gloves as he descended the side of the building on his fingertips.  
  
He pulled a small black cylinder from his belt pouches and pointed it. The red laser sliced through the glass like a hot knife through butter. He touched the glass and adhered his fingers to it. He slipped in and laid the glass on the dusty floor of the storage facilities office.  
  
============================  
  
Across the road a figure sauntered down the sidewalk unperturbed, skipping over a long black strand. She paused and looked up at the Adult Movie store...the three floors above were home to the Butchers. A gang of hacksaw loving nutcases that had, two days ago, murdered two police officers.  
  
"Trés bonne" purred Alley Cat. She performed a stunning leap upwards to shove her talons into the brickwork of the floor above the dim sign of three red X's. She spat on the sign and scaled the building. She paused at the window and slid onto the sill. Her pupils turned into slit feline ones. Jamie could see through the dark shadows like they weren't there. "Here's kitty!" she grinned and lunged through the glass.  
  
====================  
  
Nick crawled along the ceiling and removed a small bat shape from his bandoleer of pouches. He flicked it into the crate marked explosives below him. The men below were totally oblivious to his presence. He tossed another bat into the back of a terminal and flipped himself silently onto a catwalk. "HEY YOU!"  
  
Nick spun and mentally slapped himself in the head. The man at the other end of the catwalk scrambled up the last few steps of the ladder and aimed his machine gun. The sharp S-shape blade sliced through the air, the only sign of movement from Dusk was a minor flick of the wrist. It knocked the gun away.  
  
"INTRUDER!" screamed the man. "INTRU---"  
  
The shadows leapt from Dusk's hands and wrapped around the man's throat flinging him aside as Nick sprinted towards the ladder, forgoing the steps and sliding down on the vertical poles. He swung a heel into the neck of the man nearest him.  
  
"I wish I could stay," he whispered. "But I'm in a rush!"  
  
He pointed a hand at two gunmen as they spun to fire at him; their shadows lurched up at them and dragged them to their knees. "Don't tangle with the supernatural." He gripped his cloak and pulled it up over himself, twisting into a 2D spiral of green and black that twisted out of existence...seconds later the bats exploded...  
  
============================  
  
Nick stepped out of the distortion in the air and looked around. The flames had taken the building. "Well, well. Dusk, THE Dusk in this little corner of Gotham" a voice said. "Well, this is a nice turn of events..."  
  
Dusk spun and looked at the Commissioner. She was standing before him looking very annoyed. Her pistol was aimed at his chest and she didn't look like she was willing to listen to elaborate stories or watch him shadow stride away.  
  
"Ah" he said. "Commissioner".  
  
============================  
  
Landing in the shower of glass Jamie leapt straight up into a forwards flip over the body of an unfortunate Butcher who got a hook kick in the gut. She ducked under a slash and used her weave to wire a kick into his gut. He flipped over onto the table.  
  
"Now boys, be gentle it's my first time and I just don't know what to do...guide me through it" she meowed as she adjusted her leather corset and snapped her hips to one side, the tattered black trail whipping behind her feet. She adjusted her helmet and slid into a fighting stance.  
  
"Let's see sugar," cackled one Butcher, reaching for her cleavage. She caught his hand and smiled. She touched the bands of leather that held the open cat suit zippers closed a little.  
  
"Happy to oblige" she whispered breathlessly. She kicked into his side still holding his arm then snaked her leg around the trapped limb to kick his face several times. "Will that do you?"  
  
He staggered back and charged. She spun under his arms and swept his legs from under him. She caught his collar and belt buckle as he fell down towards her and flipped him over. Jamie rose and cracked her whip; catching one man by the neck she slugged him into the body of another idiot who got too close with his hacksaw.  
  
"This is fun, now I see the attraction!" she grinned. She leaned right back as a female Butcher slashed at her with a small divers knife. Jamie was flexed right over, touching the ground with her spine bent incredibly. "Limber aren't I?"  
  
She flipped her legs up into a handstand and kicked the knife away as she did. She lashed her heels out into the Butcher woman's eyes. Her heels were blunt and thick so they gave the woman two large bruises and a hell of a reason to scream.  
  
Jamie snapped her whip at a man and his belt buckled popped open, he stumbled and fell. She looked at the last three in the room and coiled her whip back around her waist. "Okay, three for me!" she grinned. She pulled the fans from her leg holsters and snapped them out. The Butchers brandished machetes and hatchets, unaware of what the deadly ornate weapons were capable of.  
  
They charged...the fans hissed and slashed through the air as Jamie performed springs and flips without the use of her hands to slash and swipe expertly. She snapped her fans closed again and batted the criminals aside. She spun them in her hands and slipped them back into the holsters before sashaying over to the canisters of laughing gas. She frowned and pulled the label (a crown on a peacock feather) off the crate. "Laughing Gas? Curiouser and curiouser" she murmured. Sighing she wrenched the valves off.  
  
"What the hell are you doing!?" one of the Butchers exclaimed.  
  
"Giving you a reason to move, the East End is my turf, spread the word...cross me and it's bad luck!" she snapped. She walked over to a light switch and pulled the cover off using a fan for leverage.  
  
The Butchers rushed out of the old cinema through the back exit.  
  
============================  
  
"So what brings YOU here? Isn't Riverside your epicentre anymore?" the commissioner asked. "And what made you think you could get away with murdering anyone, criminals or not here?"  
  
"I play a different game to your Batman or your officers" he shrugged. "The city needs something a little more drastic if you want to clean it up."  
  
"We're doing fine thanks," the Commissioner said.  
  
The pair swung their heads to the doors of the cinema as a shape appeared back flipping out. "You might want to hit the dirt," the back flipping woman shouted as she somersaulted down an open sewer grate and disappeared.  
  
The pair followed her flips and stared at the grate after she'd vanished...then the cinema had exploded in a ball of flame. "What a woman" gasped Dusk with intense excitement. He leapt backwards and spun himself into a spiral of darkness that vanished.  
  
Barbara Gordon stared at the blazing inferno. "2 cats in three months...record or what?"  
  
================================  
  
"That was...wow!" Jamie giggled as she hopped up and down on the spot in her apartment, making sure the blinds were pulled. She slipped out of her costume and sauntered into the shower letting the water run over her slightly aching body. "I beat the Butchers! One of the most savage damn gangs in Gotham!"  
  
She stepped out of the shower and pulled on her robe, humming as she sauntered into her tiny room. "I need to tell someone" she sighed hopping onto her bed with Mist. "But I really can't...can I?" she sighed.  
  
Jamie lay back. "As if my relationships with men could get worse..."  
  
============================  
  
Madison screamed and scuttled from her booth, her meticulously done hair was now filled with spiders. "What happened?" Jamie asked flatly.  
  
"Someone put spiders in Madison's hat" Adrian sighed. Jamie sipped her tea with a sly look in her eyes, the green orbs darting shiftily from side to side.  
  
"Who'd do something like that to sweet Maddy?" mused Jamie.  
  
"Possibly you" sniffed Adrian swivelling to face her. She was dressed in a tight black turtleneck and pair of tight red leather trousers.  
  
"Nice one detective" grinned Jamie swirling the tea in her cup. "So...anything planned for this evening? I'm hitting the town cruising for guys!"  
  
"I have...stuff...to look after" Adrian smiled. "Mind if I rain check..."  
  
Jamie narrowed her eyes at him. "You look flushed Adrian...what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing" Adrian swallowed, nervous in comparison to his cynical normalities. He swivelled back to his desk and continued to sketch the shape. "There's some investor coming over today and he used to...pick on me in school."  
  
"Reeeeeee-alllllly?" pondered Jamie aloud. "Well...anyway..."  
  
"O-total-M-absolute-G!" someone exclaimed. It was Courtney Collins, another artist, she was holding a newspaper. "The Catwoman's back! She blew up a cinema last night! Apparently the commissioner caught a glimpse of her. They figured she was a Catwoman by the fact slashes on the Butcher Gang Members she beat up were similar to Catwoman's!"  
  
A crowd had gathered. Spellbound, recalling the terrorism of a few months back from the woman in PVC and leathers with a whip and claws. No one wanted a rerun of that little escapade. "How do they know it was Catwoman?" sighed someone, Carl Atkins from the Press Liaison asked.  
  
"Commissioner Gordon was there...apparently, she was apprehending a dangerous vigilante called Dusk, when the Catwoman appeared, blowing a building up and vanishing into the sewers."  
  
Jamie smiled to herself...so Dusk was the name of the guy in the hood...  
  
========================  
  
"Catwoman" mused Nick as he and Dave sat in their limo, speeding towards their meeting with Paxton Powers. "Cat---woman...what an intriguing turn of events."  
  
"Brothers got a crush," cooed Dave.  
  
"If you want me to show you the uses for a spade...I will."  
  
Dave raised his hands in defeat and returned to the computer game set in the car. "You know, the press is starting to...what's the word? Imply? That you mightn't be interested in women..."  
  
Nick's eyebrows vanished into his bangs. "Sorry?"  
  
"No solid relationships...girls usually get the grand tour of the penthouse then head home...you know...as in...not seeing you again...face it...you're a bit of a ho."  
  
Nick glared at his brother. "I'm not, I just can't share both sides of myself with a girlfriend, keep it short and no one gets hurt...it's best for everyone."  
  
"Not really" Dave said quietly. "But believe what you want."  
  
Nick pressed the corner of his forehead to the cold glass and stared out the window as the rain came down on Gotham from an iron-grey sky. He closed his eyes...  
  
========================  
  
"Really?" Max smiled over her cup of coffee. "You seriously did that!"  
  
"Madison is a pain in the ass" Jamie sighed flipping her hair back. "She deserved the arachnids in the hat...why? Was it immoral?"  
  
"Just different" Max said, as she looked her friend over the cup of coffee. Jamie had her hair gelled into strips, she looked like on of Charlie's angels or something. "You used to a voice confrontation and go for the cynical barb."  
  
"Things—people- change" whispered Jamie. "I let my one true love's killers get away... it had an affect, I'm making amends by being...stronger."  
  
"What about Boyfriends? The big B?"  
  
"No" Jamie said. "I've pretty much been a celibate...all I need is a habit, a wimble and a mother superior and I'm set for life. Though I'm getting back in there lately."  
  
"Do you remember when we met in London?" asked Max.  
  
"Yeah, you were a tourist and I was a 10 year old giving tours of Daddy's museum"  
  
"You called me a Yankee-doodle-dandy"  
  
"You called me a crumpet eating limey," sighed Jamie. "And then we went out for tea and biscuits...you seemed offended by the crumpets. Why was that?"  
  
"You'll never know" Max said narrowing her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry all my friend's baled but they all had things. Blade's gotten a modelling contract, Nelson's doing football 24-7 to train up for his scholarship and Terry...Terry lost someone close to him early this year...he's not been the same."  
  
"I get it" nodded Jamie. "Hey, let's go clubbing..."  
  
"Can't, work" Max sighed. "I'm helping a friend's boss set up his computers."  
  
"Big job?"  
  
"Really big computer" sighed Max.  
  
It's strangeJamie thought as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. I'm able to do all these things by instinct...it's like I'm remembering a past I've never had  
  
She opened the door of her apartment and smiled as she found Lenny trying to pull his fist out of her jar. "Oh dear, you seem to have mistaken that for my money pot...I keep my glue in there actually. Extra strength"  
  
"I'll sue you!" warned Lenny.  
  
"Read the cover of the tin pal," sighed Jamie. It clearly stated "Cash Savings of Jamie Carter – Hands off". "You'll need that for evidence, but if you remove it your claim will go down the tubes...but if you don't you get nabbed for theft...choices, choices". She snapped a picture with her small camera. "And now I have it on screen, with the writing crystal clear...thanks Lenny"  
  
Lenny snarled and growled before stalking out of the room. Jamie shut the door, seconds later there was a knock. Jamie opened it with a smile. Mist mewled at her, held out from the body of Mr Crivitz. Who was looking very, very annoyed.  
  
"Your cat-"  
  
"Is adorable I know" she said taking the cat into her arms.  
  
"No! Your cat-"  
  
"Is white? State the obvious much?"  
  
"Listen you---"  
  
A hand snagged his collar and pulled him to her face. Her dark blue eyes bore into his mind. "Look pal, what kind of whine has a problem with every little thing I do? When you find yourself a life then tell me so I can throw a party because when you DO find a life I will not have to put up with this harassment anymore. Because this is the sign of a truly pathetic individual."  
  
He opened his mouth to speak but she shut the door in his face and placed Mist down. "So, I feel like a rooftop run tonight" she said. "You stay here and take my messages ...damn, I forgot, I don't get any!"  
  
============================  
  
"Mr Wayne, speaking with you and your partner Mr Powers was...better then just speaking with him" smiled Nick shaking the old man's hand.  
  
"No trouble Mr St. Peter"  
  
"Between you and me" whispered Nick. "Paxton's a bit too stupid for this game."  
  
He glanced at the boy in the heavy brown jacket who was walking towards them. "Plus, Mr McGinnis added something interesting to the meeting with the occasional stifled laugh at Paxton...I see that they don't like each other."  
  
"Perceptive" nodded Terry. "I don't. Neither does he. But that's for our own private reason's".  
  
"I wasn't prying Mr McGinnis," sighed Nick. "Be careful you don't accuse me again. If you get on my bad side...well it's not a nice place to be, bad weather and all."  
  
Terry shifted; the glint in Mr St. Peter's eye was disturbing.  
  
========================  
  
The motorbike roared through the streets, black metal and green plating, a racing bike that made for a quick getaway. It was easy to store and Stride back too. He sighed and rested on the bars for a moment...then he saw it...the feline shape flipping through the night sky.  
  
He smiled and put the bike against a wall, it vanished. Then he leapt upwards, grabbing a windowsill and vaulting backwards off the wall there, onto the roof of a building.  
  
====================  
  
"The Goddess Bast" recited Jamie. "Goddess of Love and Fertility...oh and we can't forget Sex...she was also Sekhmet the goddess of war in an alternative side and was both cat and lioness. She used her powers to save Ra when—was he trapped in the underworld or dead?" she shrugged. "The symbol on Mist's collar was the symbol of Isis, the wings...but the stone was the stone of Bast. Isis was the goddess of women and the first queen of Egypt. She put her husband back together and was mother to Horus...I think that's her biggest achievements."  
  
She stopped and looked into the alley, he senses could pick-up a lot more, opening a world she'd never known...she heard the muffled squeak below...her eyes pierced the dark and she hissed as she saw the woman surrounded by three thugs. Oh joy, men demonstrating their superiority on someone that is approximately one eighth the total of their combined body mass  
  
Jamie flipped off the roof and landed in a crouch and rose seductively. "Hey boys, don't mind me, I'm just here to crack a can of whupass out."  
  
"Get her," the first said. The other two rushed at her. She ducked low and kicked the ankle of the first, slipping his legs off to one side and forcing him to land on his side. She spun a kick over the falling man's head and cracked his friend in the side of the face. Her whip cracked out and dragged him to his knees before her; she placed a foot on his upper chest and pressed him back.  
  
"You're just not getting me" she sighed. She snapped her leg across his face a few times in a series of slaps that left him unconscious. His friend rose. Alley Cat swung a large closed fan into the side of his head and he went down.  
  
"Don't move!" warned the leader as he grabbed the small woman in the blue jacket and cap. "Or I slit her throat! I swear it".  
  
"Gutsy" purred Alley Cat. She touched the small mesh patches on her gloves palms as a hippopotamus of memory shoved its way to the surface. She raised her palm and blew. The smoke was pink, purple, blue and navy, sparkling as it touched his face and curled up his nostrils.  
  
"Oh my" he breathed...and collapsed to his knees sprouting love poems. "My divine muse, guide me! Show me the way to your heart so I may confess my love for---"  
  
She kicked him across the face and he fell unconscious. "He was about to say thee," she muttered. "I did us both a favour."  
  
Jamie cast a look at the woman...and shot upwards, latching her claws into the brickwork and climbing upwards...disappearing. The woman stared, then hurried out of the alley, clutching her purse to her chest.  
  
====================  
  
"She used a spell, a love spell, on that thug" mused Nick. "Interesting...I didn't think those ancient love-smoke spells have been seen since the pyramids were a new-fangled invention".  
  
Dave sighed. "It's been an hour of the Cat. Can we please get away from it?"  
  
"I need to know if she's like the recent Catwoman a psycho-sexual nut job with homicidal tendencies and serious love for vinyl...or the less recent Catwoman with a love for larceny and the occasional good deed."  
  
"You have a thing for evil women. Remember Miss Let's-throw-explosives- around Solitaire? You and her...relationship counselling all the way."  
  
"Solitaire was refined and skilled."  
  
"She was a snob" sniffed Dave. "And don't forget to sleep, you have the day free... and the art opening tonight...sometimes I wish you'd get a PA...almost as much as I wish you'd get a girlfriend..."  
  
"Keep out of it St. David" warned Nick. "I'm getting my rest, like you want."  
  
"And here is our art department Mr Monday" the head of art, Mr Keith led the tall tanned investor through the art department. Adrian groaned.  
  
"Skip Monday...I hate him! He ruined my life in school..." he groaned. "Called me point-Dexter and specs and...you get the idea! He even stole my girlfriend". Leaning against his desk Jamie patted him on the back of the neck.  
  
"How would you like me to shatter that mean old skips ego?"  
  
Adrian's head poked up. "You can do that?"  
  
"Trust me" she smiled. "Feminine wiles"  
  
And weird love smoke if needs beher mind added. She rose and walked out in front of Skip Monday, who was dressed in a white suit and shirt. His store bought tan and blonde hair was irritating. "Hi" she said, with a small wave and sashayed past, brushing her chest of his arm as she slid past into her cubicle.  
  
"Who was she?" Skip asked.  
  
"Bianca-Jamelia Carter" shrugged Mr Keith. "An artist."  
  
"Ms Carter" Skip said leaning on her cubicle. "Would you like to join me for a gallery opening tonight? It's very high end..."  
  
Jamie turned and smiled. "Really?" her blouse had opened a few buttons more. "That sounds really nice. I'm always impressed by a man with a limo, even if they say its compensation".  
  
Skip frowned as she rose and went to her drawers, bending down to pick out a file from the bottom drawer. His eyes bulged and he swallowed. "I'll meet you at your hotel whenever" she said.  
  
"8:00" he squeaked. She moved her lips in a kind of barely-existent kiss as he walked away. Jamie cast a sly glance at Adrian who stared at her strangely.  
  
=====================================  
  
Jamie filled the atomizer and then the Compaq with the mixtures. She smiled at Lewis who was fawning over her in the lab of the cosmetics plant. Which was a building behind the arts and accounts building. "Thanks Lewis" she whispered and blew him a kiss so he could continue to fantasize until the love smoke fell off...she just didn't have the time to "wile" him.  
  
====================================  
  
Clad in a white and silver dress with sharp heels and her costume in a handbag (hidden under a raincoat) Jamie stepped out of the limo with Skip who was flashing bleached teeth left and right.  
  
Her dress was longer on the left side with a few silver (sort-of-) frills. The straps are silver too and there's a small diamond shaped hole on the chest. She has her hair down, drifting just on her shoulder level.  
  
She successfully fended off the groping from Skip in the elevator and entered the party with him. "Oh look it's Darby Chaser, the famous model," Jamie said. "I think you should talk to her, she seems to be trying to get your attention."  
  
Darby Chaser (6ft buxom blonde with unnatural cheekbones) was waving frantically like a lunatic from the other side of the room. Subtle darlingsniffed Jamie as Skip ran over to the woman.  
  
Slowly Jamie made her way into a less crowded part of the exhibition. Paintings hung in the totally white room with three sculptures (one of glass, one of scrap metal and wire and another of clay) in the centre.  
  
Nick paused, he heard someone enter the room, but the footsteps became barely existent after that. He turned and walked over to the large wire sculpture, a female figure in silver and white visible. "Evidently this artist was trying to shape something," he said.  
  
"I don't know art," sighed the woman. "That's assuming your talking to me and not some imaginary friend—in which case discard my last statement."  
  
"I was talking to you," he said, trying to catch a glimpse of her through the wire shapes. "I believe it's meant to be a wire model of the human digestive system"  
  
"Lovely" smiled Jamie. She moved on to the large clay structure, keeping it between them. "Woman in abandoned repose? What is with these artists? I mean...Yah!"  
  
For a second Nick could see a set of green eyes and blonde-brown hair. "Do you like art?"  
  
"I love art, but I'm not that chuffed about this. They're so...it's all about the name, not the art itself. It's superficial, no depth just a shallow look for attention. The colours are to get attention not to relay the artists feelings and the sculptures are all about creating twisted shapes not about creating an image with feeling."  
  
"You're one for passionate arguments on art I see" nodded Nick. "Might I ask the ladies name? Or would that be out of line?"  
  
"I'm someone" she replied in a sighing voice. "But everyone calls me nobody".  
  
Nick quickened his pace as she reached the glass-crystal shape and a blurred shape became visible. "This is nice," she said.  
  
"I agree"  
  
"You won't get anywhere near me like that" she said. "I hate yes-men"  
  
"I was agreeing and I meant it"  
  
"Sincerity? From a man? Hmmmm" Nick turned to his right, as she appeared, a flute of champagne in her hand. "Well, that's a surprise of course..."  
  
"St. Nicholas St. Peter"  
  
"St. John, St. David, St. Paul"  
  
"Are you mocking my name?" he said, his lips quirking into a smile.  
  
"I thought we were playing a game" she smiled. "List the saints or something... well it's an interesting name."  
  
"And you are?"  
  
Jamie took his offered hand and shook. "Extremely unimpressed by the artwork"  
  
"Parents didn't like you much, did they?"  
  
Jamie raised her glass in a small salute. "La'chiem Mr St. Peter"  
  
"Skol" he replied as he raised his glass.  
  
"Nostrovia" she shrugged  
  
"Banzai"  
  
"Good one---Rinka"  
  
"Ditto--- Slanta"  
  
"We may never get to drink at this rate" shrugged Jamie. "As they say back home, cheers and bottoms up". She slugged her drink back swiftly and gracefully. With a shrug Nick drank his own down deeply.  
  
"I see my date coming this way, apparently looking for me" sighed Jamie.  
  
"I'll let you go to him then" Nick said. She snared his arm with hers.  
  
"You'll do no such thing. Balcony. Now".  
  
The cool moonlight flowed down on the balcony, bathing it in a supernatural glow that felt familiar to Jamie. "Why are you dating Skip Monday of all people?" Nick asked at last. "I had to deal with him once before, a feat I shall not repeat."  
  
"I'm actually getting even with him for hurting a friends feelings when they were in school together" Jamie said as she removed her perfume. "This makes bottle tan and hair bleach less stable in their pigmentation."  
  
"I can guess...giant oompa-loompa" smirked Nick. "What a dark side you have"  
  
"It's a gift" shrugged Jamie. "But I amn't ready to get him just yet. Bloody git needs to stop trying to grope me so---once he's hammered I'll spray him."  
  
Nick looked at the entrance to the exhibition, Skip had just appeared. "And your chance has arisen. Have fun". He turned to leave but she hooked the back of his collar and swiftly pulled him back.  
  
"Oh Mr St. Peter you're hilarious" she laughed abruptly, patting his chest once. She smiled at Skip. "Skippy! How wonderful to see you. Mr St. Peter was just discussing the art with me."  
  
"I like it" Skip said dimly. With a sigh Jamie sprayed the atomizer over her shoulder, filling the air with a sweet scent. Skip gave a chuckle. "Keeping yourself pretty for me".  
  
"Yes, actually we need to talk" Jamie said. "Wait here Mr St. Peter." She led Skip to an alcove and blew the smoke off her palm. "Skip, you want to go after Darby and make sure to get yourself in as many pictures as possible."  
  
"But I love you" he sighed dreamily.  
  
"No you don't, go," she instructed. He walked away and she returned to Nick's side. "Sorry, had to get him to chase Chaser. He was a pain in the neck."  
  
"I understand, but why spend the evening with me?"  
  
"Never said I would, but you seem like an intelligent guy, I figure that once the full moon goes down you'll revert to a macho slob so I'll enjoy this conversation while it lasts."  
  
He smirked and nodded. The bullets tore through the air. "All right folks!" one of the two men shouted. "Empty all your valuables into the bag!"  
  
"Oh joy a robbery," muttered Nick. "I'll try and call the police...you should hide..."  
  
"Yes being a woman there is nothing I can contribute" Jamie said mechanically. In a blur she was immersed in the crowd. Nick raised an eyebrow and darted off, stepping in behind a plant and disappearing in his spiral of shadow.  
  
Jamie dug her slightly lengthened nails into the gaps in the brickwork and edged across to the locked balcony with the broken parapet. She pulled her purse around and dragged her costume out. "It's so easy to carry around" she muttered. She hurriedly unzipped the back of her dress.  
  
=====================  
  
The two thugs wore biker helmets, their third and forth members came from the elevators. "Come on lady! The necklace"  
  
The pale euro snob removed her diamond necklace and with trembling hands gave it to the man. A whip cracked through the air and dragged the thug to the ground.  
  
"Wouldn't you rather have a nice oversized-novelty-cheque?" purred the cat. All eyes locked on her and there was a sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room. She blinked. They blinked. "It wasn't that bad was it?"  
  
Alley Cat propelled herself upwards and flipped over him, grabbing the slack of her whip and wrenching on it, flinging him over. "To quote a certain, blue eyed, white haired genius...meow" she pivoted and kicked the grounded thief across the face.  
  
There was a crash as someone came through the window, tackling the nearest thug to the ground and landing a sledgehammer punch to the back of his head. The thief went limp and stayed down. The remaining two looked at each other and raised their weapons.  
  
Dusk looked at Catwoman his short, tattered red cloak flowing behind him. She gave a small nod...and spun flinging a small, delicate blue fan. It sliced a wound in the arm of the first man. Dusk hurled a small knife with a blade shaped like a batwing at the other; it stabbed through his wrist and left him in a writhing pile on the ground.  
  
"Impressive, Alley Cat...and you are?" Jamie purred as she flipped at the man she's slashed and jack-knife slashed down on him, her claws raked down his chest and she slammed her head into his face for closure.  
  
"I could say the same, Dusk, the pleasure is indeed mine" whispered Dusk. There was a ping and the elevator doors opened. Alley Cat and Dusk darted in opposite directions. Dusk whirled into a spiral of shadow and vanished as Alley Cat back flipped out the window and off the roof.  
  
The whip cracked out of her hand and snared a radio antennae she swivelled on the fulcrum and landed on her foes and one hand. "Go Me-ow" she purred.  
  
"Impressive exit" Dusk whispered. She spun and bared her claws with a hiss.  
  
"Let me guess" she purred. "Here to try your mettle. The East End is my territory Dusky, back off or I'll make you my kitties litter!"  
  
Dusk smirked. "Don't make me hurt you"  
  
"You'd have to catch me first" she smirked...and back flipped. She dropped off the edge of the building onto a slanted roof. She skidded down followed closely by Dusk. Jamie giggled and vaulted upwards an incredible height landing on the moving arm demonstrating a knife slicing. She used it to catapult onto another roof and pulled out her fans. She sprinted off the roof a second later, spinning mid leap as Dusk followed, batting him twice across the face with her closed fans.  
  
They landed; Dusk touched his cowled face, blood seeping through the material. "Not bad"  
  
He spun and slammed a fist into the side of her head, she swept with the strike and whirled a leg sideways off the ground and angled it into his neck. He kicked up into her stomach and grabbed her leg.  
  
"Nice leg" he said.  
  
"Thanks. I have two" she whirled, using the held leg as leverage and cracked him in the side of the head. She swiped low and tore a gash in his hip. He roared and grabbed her by the head, slamming their foreheads together sending her staggering back. She leapt and snared her thighs around his midriff, squeezing tightly.  
  
"Do you have a crush on me?" he wheezed.  
  
"Oh, yeah" she smiled. "Big crush"  
  
"Oh honey," he gasped. "I love you too". He clapped his hands into the sides of her head and stunned her. He hurled her off his body and somersaulted towards her, she rolled in time to avoid his feet stamping down at him.  
  
He turned and received five swift high-heeled kicks to the face followed up with a swift jab. Jamie grabbed Nick's mask as he slammed her in the gut and they pulled apart...each holding the others mask.  
  
"YOU!" they chorused.  
  
The spotlights swept the rooftop as Jamie rushed at Nick and blew a cloud of blue into his face. "Me" she said. He staggered back, fighting the spell. She grabbed a handful of his black hair and kissed him angrily, backing him towards the end of the roof.  
  
Her lips glowed blue and sent the indigo shooting into body, he staggered back, and she shoved him off the roof and picked up her mask. "Have to run" she said breathlessly as she flipped a lock of hair out of her eyes and leapt off the roof before the spotlight could catch her.  
  
Nick dangled on a drainpipe, pulling his hood up he sighed. "Well that went well."  
  
TBC:  
  
Jamie goes on Good Morning Gotham to speak about the East End Education centre but winds up on Blind Date! She gets a date...with Nick? She has to get help at Temple.com from the New ORACLE! Who is it? Guess! Because Inque is in Gotham and gunning for a priceless Aztec calendar. Alley Cat AWAY! 


	3. Further Learning

EAST END

CATgrl: Et voila chapter three...it's not that great...sorry

Chapter 3: Further Learning

Jamie stared at the brick wall and the cute little crinkle appeared on the bridge of her nose like it always did. Max cleared her throat and Jamie turned. "You started that mural when I went to set up the computers---three hours ago...the wall is still blank"

Jamie sighed and nodded. "No inspiration" she sighed. "As in ZIP. I just don't know what to put up...this will be in the main hall of the East End Community Centre for hundreds to see! That is a lot of pressure."

Max gave a light laugh. "You never know," she said. "Sometimes that kind of inspiration can jump out at you from nowhere...try the newspaper."

She handed Jamie a copy of The East Voice. A local Rag. The Front blared the words: "ALLEY CAT: TERROR TEMPTRESS OR DARING DAMSEL?"

"Alley Cat is thought to weigh 120 pounds!?" exclaimed Jamie. "Which hack wrote this? She'd have to be in good shape to--" she gave a growl. Max raised an eyebrow.

"Read the article, get inspiration," she suggested. "Volunteers can leave any time and you will need your rest if you want to go far in this world."

Jamie nodded and tucked the paper into her bags. "I'll see you after work here tomorrow, take care and let's do lunch" Jamie said as she walked towards the door.

Nick rubbed the back of his head. "I can't believe you signed me up for the Good Morning Gotham show! Hearsay Hilda is a brainless ignoramus!" Dave shrugged as his brother pulled the bow and hit the target set on the patio of the penthouse...that technically dominated two floors of the Gotham Meridian.

"How bad can it be? Besides, if they bring up your love life---you can tell them Alley Kitten gave you a doped magic kiss and shoved you off a roof" Dave smirked.

"Don't tempt me to beat you into a pulp" Nick grated.

Dave shrugged. "You've been researching Cat demons since the weekend when she gave you the love shove. And you've been investigating the East End bank robbery she foiled. And the fact some of the cash vanished with her...you're curious, and probably in heat."

"Being in Hell Heat is never pretty, you and I both know how it---affects me" grimaced Nick. "So---lay off...I amn't in Hell Heat...I just amn't."

"Well you're still lusting like a sailor on shore leave" sniffed Dave. "I have to run, since you signed me up for Gotham Prep...stupid snob school"

"Don't start about that again", sighed Nick. Dave went back inside and left his brother to—for the first time that evening—miss his target. "That darn cat" he muttered. He froze as the images blasted through his head---too fast for the average person to perceive. He staggered as he took them in.

Stone Calendar, the museum, ink spreading over the floor, the alarms--- he opened his eyes and groaned. "Damn, at it again" he sighed and turned to enter the penthouse.

=====================================

Jamie sat with the article in her hands.

"Alley Cat is the name for a Catwoman copy cat who appeared five times to witnesses in the past two weeks. The first was when she blew up an adult theatre that was home to the Butcher Gang. The witness then was Commissioner Barbara Gordon.

The Commissioner refused to comment on what she was doing in the East End other then a patrol, however she did mention a report of seeing a dangerous vigilante (See Page 8) nearby.

The second appearance was witness by 28 year old librarian Elma Anchorman, Alley Cat apparently defeated three muggers, one of whom is reported to have waved all rights and legal council provided he is permitted a visit from Alley Cat.

The third appearance was at an art display, she and the dangerous vigilante defeated a group of thieves, then escaped out a window.

The fourth appearance was when she foiled a bank robbery BUT she took a bag of cash with her...this behaviour is most unusual and has confused the authorities. A James Kenly who was walking his dog recently observed the fifth time; she was seen racing across the rooftops.

The police have issued this warning: Alley Cat is assumed to be dangerous and armed and not to be approached by any member of the public." Jamie tossed the paper aside. "Badly written lies," she snapped. She walked into her room and opened the chest, removing the art supplies on a tray to reveal her costume.

She checked the corset and the long black trail. "All set" she muttered and began to dress.

===========================

Dusk landed in a crouch on the roof of the art-history museum and gave a sigh. "This is it" he darted across to the glass skylight. The shadows swirled around him, enveloping him in their darkness. He watched as the inky shadows below converged on the Aztec calendar wheel...

"I'm guessing Inque is still alive..." he whispered.

The alarms blared, Inque shot upwards, her limbs jutting from around the covered disk as she burst through the glass. "I don't believe you own that" a voice from the shadows said.

"No one asked you" Inque snapped as she spun to face---empty air. The form materialized and performed a karate chop that passed right through her. She lashed at him, he flipped over the tentacle, and sharp blades appeared in his hands he hurled them at her.

She ignored the blades, choosing to shoot them back at him. "Is that the best you have?" Dusk leapt at her. His tattered looking cloak billowed.

"If you wanted my best..." he sneered. "Then all you had to do was ask..."

He landed a foot on the wheel and spun the other to splattered through the white blob of inks face. She shrieked in shock and batted him away before lunging out across the city.

=========================

Jamie leapt onto the roof and then performed a flip onto a chimney nearby. It was strange that the East End hadn't been cultivated as much as the other city. She whipped her trail of black material; she felt something in the air...

Then she saw it. A black shape was crawling along the side of a building with Dusk following above. "Oh it's the man of my nightmares," she said with a mock romance in her voice. She leapt onto a stone fixture that jutted out over the road.

She took a running jump off it and landed both feet on inks rounded side. The shape shifter gave a shriek as they crashed downwards into the roof garden.

Jamie crashed through the branches and grabbed a branch and dropped herself gracefully. Inque landed in the bushes after crashing through the trees. She slithered up off the calendar wheel and faced Jamie in full human form. "And who are you supposed to be? Catwoman? That's been done" Inque sneered.

"You know for walking sewer run off you criticize a lot" Inque's jaw dropped she lashed a hand out, morphing to her mutated form. The liquid whip shot through the air with blurring speed. To Jamie's dilated eyes it was ho-hum speed.

She ducked under the slash and gripped the thick batons on her thighs. She raised them and snapped them out, they were full sized fans now. "It's not feline but it works" she stated. She blocked two stabs of ink with the fans and performed aerial splits to avoid a geyser of black. "You should be the spokes gal for ballpoint biros you know that?" smirked Jamie.

Dusk materialized behind her. She ignored him...for some reason she had felt the approach—like a warning. She flipped over Inque and sliced the fans right through her. "Be with you in just a second" she snapped as Inque reformed.

"You're not making any progress" Inque sneered.

"I've noticed" Jamie said. "So I have but one thing to say..." she spun and hurled the fans. They sliced through the air and returned to her hands seconds later. "Watch your head."

The wooden posts creaked and fell forwards, the overhead fairy lights came with them. Inque leapt away the only way she could. Straight off the building— her limbs snapped out as the sirens filled the air, the police were coming.

"Damn it" cursed Jamie.

Two strong arms wrapped around her body. "Don't move. My invisibility in light is far from omnipotent. If you start moving they'll see us" he whispered.

Jamie stayed very still, the arms were warm and gold at the same time. The police had decided to chase Inque...Jamie waited until they were gone before she stamped a heel into the booted foot of Nick. He released in surprise and received a high-kick to the face. He blocked the punch she swung with one hand and looped the other around her arm.

Nick spun around to Jamie's back and locked her other arm painfully. "What is it with every woman I meet? Do they all need to try and kill me?"

"Kill? I was on more of a "humiliate" setting" Jamie said. She swung her leg up and slammed him in the face. He staggered back. She spun at him. He caught the next kick and pulled her forwards, she landed in the splits and swung her back leg to the front. Shoving away she rolled backwards and onto her feet.

She pulled her whip off her hips and spun, the leather cracked in the night air. She whipped it straight at him, the sting knocking him off balance. She lashed the whip. He caught it on his arm and pulled her to him.

"Kinky" he said.

"I know. When I'm fighting it gives me an edge" she trailed a clawed glove down his muscled torso and tunic. "It gives me---" she rammed a knee into his groin. "Easier targets!"

She stepped back as he fell to his knees, drawing deep breaths and cursing. He leapt up and slammed a full force punch into her face. She went stumbling back as Nick leapt into a jump kick that winded her as he swung a back fist into her cheek. She rolled off to one side and pulled the smaller fan off her left arm straps. "Here's a clichéd pun on A Fan Of Yours"

The fan hissed through the air. Nick pulled out of the way as the fan hissed past his face and then wound around, back to Jamie. Nick touched his cheek, there was a long scratch along it, the blood was streaming from it...and then it closed, sealed like a zipper.

"Supernatural" whispered Jamie. She bared her claws as her pupils narrowed.

"Okay, easy" Nick said. "I'm not interested in a fight right now cat. I have simple desires for the time being. I want to examine the tablet. We can both walk away happier without any major organs missing."

Immediately Jamie relaxed and shrugged. "Okay, have fun with the tablet."

Nick walked over to the tablet and immediately groaned. "Ugh! Hieroglyphics, this will take all night"

"Okay, curiosity and cats don't mix—but still" sighed Jamie. She kneeled by the calendar wheel and ran her hands over the stone. "It tells of more then the average calendar. It's a piece recipe in every month. Either this makes kick ass maize sauce for poultry or..." she touched the symbols, feeling the small notches that formed other symbols. "Feathers of an Eagle...seeds of cocoa, assorted fruits and flowers, reeds and some tree roots...they make...Folly of the Winged Serpent..."

"How can you read that?"

"I studied over 20 ancient languages as a child" shrugged Jamie. "Photographic memory" she added tapping her head. "That's the truce over by the way. Next time I see you---well I'll make you a scratching post."

"You wish" Nick sneered as he took a small cylindrical camera from his belt and snapped multiple pictures of the wheel. In that space of time Jamie was already gone.

"Jamie darling!" Mrs Flinch the co-ordinator of the community centre called from across the room. "I have a favour to ask."

Jamie was still staring at the blank wall. Her paint was dried and cracked and she was still frowning. "Yes Mrs Flinch?" The woman was matronly, built like a stereotypical matron. (Which is stereotype #45). Her hair was grey-blonde and tied into a bun, she had periwinkle blue eyes and a no-nonsense manner.

"I have a problem, I have to go and see the investors today...but I scheduled both that meeting and an interview on Good Morning Gotham..." That nasty feeling welled up in Jamie's gut. "Would you go and do the interview for me?"

"No" Jamie said.

"Please? The publicity would help us immensely...please?"

Jamie sighed and nodded. "Okay"

Max had been through the best and the worst of times with Jamie. Jamie had run away at 16 with Lionel Price who was 17. That had been a mistake which was why it was only a few months before she'd hooked back up Serge and made it to Gotham only to lose him a year and a bit later.

Max tapped the screen and finished up with her image. A face of digital purple liquid that was female and like Max's but not in a way you'd understand. "Now to get out there," she said. appeared on the screen as she tapped a few more keys and the web opened up before her as she put on her VR headset and leapt into cyber space picking up police bulletins and e-mails.

"Excuse me!" Jamie said, trying to draw the attention of one of the people bustling around the set. "Sorry I---Excuse..." with a sigh she looked around and blew a tiny puff of blue smoke off her palm. Abruptly three men were helping her.

Straight into a make-up chair. Which was thankfully where she was supposed to be...until Beverly entered. "Okay we had this lovelorn woman coming in but she cancelled because she got back with her boyfriend so you're Bianca Carter right?"

"Ehhh yeah but everyone---"

"Right we'll do your segment on the community centre after the blind date... get her to wardrobe" Jamie looked around and down at her slightly torn jeans.

"Blind what! ?" she exclaimed and was whisked away.

Dressed in a black silk blouse and trousers with silver strapped high heels Jamie looked pretty incredible. She wasn't happy, however. Because she was sitting on a pink stool with a wall separating her from three other guests. It was very depressing. They'd moved up her segment and she'd talked about the centre and how it was important and Hearsay Hilda had agreed and it had been very...cosmetic and next thing she knew they were humouring her because they were West Side Dwellers and Penthouse People.

"Okay, so we've go our mystery bachelors behind the screen are ready. So Bianca - "

"Jamie" she corrected.

"Bianca" Hilda continued. She had pink highlighted hair and a matching suit with horn rimmed glasses and a voice that Jamie wanted to rip out and replace. "Are you ready to be matched up?"

"No I'm happy single"

"You don't mean that" laughed Hilda

"Yes I do" frowned Bianca as the cards were thrust into her hand. "Fine, I'll go along with this. Bachelor #1...oh sweet Martha Stewart...if I was a bagel what type of topping would you be?"

"How the hell am I supposed to answer a question like that? It's completely nonsensical" #1 said. "Gimme another one."

"Hold on I'm just looking," she said as she flicked through the cards. "Nope I got nothing" she said. "All right, which is more important? Mind or Body?"

"Mind, what's a body with nothing to drive it?"

"What he said" #2 and #3 chorused.

"Okay, #2 if I came home with a haircut you hated...what would you do?"

"I'd stay quiet and let you enjoy it"

"Number 1?"

"I'd tell you I wasn't keen on it but it's your choice how you look"

"All right, Number three I want to see a romantic movie..." Bianca smiled. "You want the latest action flick...which do we see?"

"I guess...whatever you want to see?"

"#1?"

"Go between and compromise" he replied. "Adam Heat movies, romance and action"

"#2?"

"Uhh...whatever you want to see?"

"Okay" Bianca shifted on her stool. "What is your idea of a dream date, I mean for you number three"

"I'd like to---go and see the cyber-ball, courtside seats, at a major tournament then go for drinks with a gang afterwards to celebrate"

"Number 2?"

"I'd say...ah- an opera with---a nice meal afterwards?"

"Number 1...and honestly"

"Honestly?" there was a smile in his voice. "This will sound strange but...a movie on the couch with take-away and some music." Bianca frowned in surprise. "I'm a freak I know"

"No—no that's one of the most interesting dates I've heard yet" she said softly.

"So Bianca who do you choose?" Hilda asked.

"I guess it's obvious...number one," she said. Hilda guided her over to the screen.

"Well, say hello to the man you'll be having dinner with tonight" the screen moved aside. "Nicholas St. Peter!"

They stared at each other.

Inque watched the pair of Martini drinkers. The Von Stone's had hired her to do a job and she had failed... Mrs Von Stone looked at her. "It's disappointing Inque, you're supposed to be the best" she said. "And you lost the calendar wheel! I'm so disappointed... schnookims! Huggies!"

Her Husband Max hugged her. "Oh don't worry pookie, Inque can make it up to us. She just has to kill that nasty old Alley Cat and mean old Dusk. Then she's bring us the wheel".

"I can get the wheel, but those two—whatever they are—they're strong"

"Well kill them, they're just people" snorted Mrs Von Stone (Lorraine). "And insignificant people aren't worth the time used to create them. We're trying to create a global business in crime, we don't have time for a Catwoman wannabe and some angst driven pile of moth eaten cloth."

"Fine, I'll do it" Inque said. "I'll get the wheel and kill the heroes but you have to double the 8 million" she snapped as she morphed into a liquid form.

"Done in a flash," Lorraine said without batting an eyelid.

"You really are rich" muttered Inque as she slicked away.

Lorraine snapped her fingers, her chauffeur and bodyguard appeared. "Eve, bring the car around" the woman with midnight blue hair sauntered off. "Gorgon, send some snipers to help Inque. We can't have failure."

"Oh darling you're so evil" Max said sweeping her into a tip and a kiss.

Jamie and Nick were bundled into a limo by the people from the studio. There ride was stiffly quiet and when they arrived at the restaurant they found camera's waiting to tape the date.

"You two hold hands!" Beverly the stage managers said as she forced Jamie's hand into Nicks. He looked at the hands then at her. Their eyes met, his dilated to pure blackness and hers became slit pupilled for a split second before they reset to the normal.

"So Mr St. Peter, been on the town lately?"

He shrugged. "Not really, have you Ms Carter?"

"No" she said. "Just beating around". She shut the menu. "I'll have the shrimp for starters and the duck as the main course. A glass of red wine please." The waiter nodded and turned to Nick.

"I'll have the Caesar Salad and the Steak" he said. "Medium to Medium rare, a glass of red wine. Anything from 2005 that was a good year all around...except for the Californian."

"Oh what a surprise he knows about wine" Jamie said as she ran her finger around the wine glass. It hummed gently. Nick looked her in the eye and then glanced at the cameras glaring at them from the booth across the room. He raised his fist and opened it in the direction of the cameras. There was a crackle and their speaker began to smoke.

"Interesting trick" Jamie said.

Nick leaned forwards. "Tell me feline...what makes you think you can defend the East Side? You steal yet you protect...and never have you killed."

She ran the tip of her tongue over her front teeth. "I don't need to kill" she whispered. "I humiliate and they will spread stories of how I defeated them...and I will reap the rewards with less fighting"

"Your powers are interesting" he added. "Love spells, kisses of death, agility, strength and speed...how did you come to possess them?"

"What did you do to the camera crews microphone?" she enquired back as she sipped her water. He smirked.

"They're find a screw popped...I have the ability to control darkness" he said.

"I died, I was revived as the Cat," she said. She pulled away as the waiter put their orders out. "And your secret origin bumper edition comic book special? What is it?"

"You know of Faust" Nick seemed to ease back slightly. "The man who sold his soul for knowledge and riches. And Dorian Grey who sold his soul to become immortal"

"Pacts with the devil?" Jamie ate a shrimp and watched his eyes.

"Not really. My father made one and in a loophole I was born different, both my brother and I...he is probably the one who paid for the Blind Date surprise with his allowance". He looked at the waiter as the wine was delivered.

"How much does he get?"

"A six digit figure a week" Nick replied. "Most people think that a lot of money... I envy them. I'll never be anything but rich..."

"And that depresses you?" Jamie said in awe. A shrimp was visible on her lip, she sucked it into her mouth in a sultry manner.

"What good is money when you have no one who can see past it?" he shrugged and sipped his wine. "I'm alone, I have David, but he's my brother, a pain, but still my brother. And he is free from needing to do penance for our blood sins"

Jamie looked at him. "You kill"

"I kill criminals" he said.

"Yours is not the place to decide who lives and who dies" she said. "When I look at you I see someone else in the background, a scared little boy who hates killing. If that part of you hates it...why do it?"

"Because I must" Nick said. "I cut off the head of evil"

"And three more take its place" she snapped back.

Before they could continue a water tower collapsed on a building. Inque slicked along the metal bars and hacked a gap in it, sending the water splashing down on the people on the street below... "What is she doing?" Nick asked.

"Looking for us" Jamie replied. "Perhaps a truce? To get rid of her?"

Nick pursed his lips. "All right."

They used the confusion to escape to the bathrooms to change. Inque was attacking randomly, Batman and Robin were occupied across town and she was near the East End so no one really gave a damn.

"Come on heroes" she sneered. "Come and stop me"

A jack-o-lantern shaped device hit the ledge she was on and blew her off it. She splattered to the pavement below. Carried by the shadows Dusk descended, Alley Cat held in his arms.

"I like the way you get around" Alley Cat said.

"It's better then the bus" he admitted. Inque reared up taking a hooded cobra like shape. "And we have begun" he muttered. Inque slammed him aside.

Jamie back flipped away swiftly, avoiding the stabs of the black liquid spikes. "What's wrong Inque? Did you forget to but some Q-tips for energy?" Inque roared and sliced out at her. Jamie's arm gained a slash on it, it wasn't deep but blood began to slick her sleeve swiftly.

"Great, now I have to stitch it" Jamie sneered. Nick's flying kick splattered Inque's face out of shape. Jamie sliced a limb off but a stream of liquid knocked her away like a doll. "She keeps regrowing and reforming!" she shouted.

"Oh I hadn't noticed" Nick shouted sarcastically as Inque's chest trapped him in tendrils and lifted him high up over the street. He pulled a long machete with a serrated blade from his thigh holster and hurled it at Inque. It went straight through her chest and stuck fast.

"Try again" she laughed as she slammed him off a wall.

Max touched her ear as the data was streamed into her senses. The news flash was about Inque. Max looked around the Arcade and ran to the bathrooms. She locked herself in a stall and removed the VR shades from her pocket.

"Here goes" she muttered and tapped the keys.

The credit machine's screen bleeped. The voice was distorted but feminine it caught Jamie's ears as she leapt away from a slash. "Feline! Cat! Alley Cat!" called the voice. Jamie glanced at the credit machine.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, I am the Oracle a cyber freedom fighter...I saw the fight. Inque's major weaknesses are Ice, Water and Electricity" the Oracle said. "There's plenty of Water and Electricity on that street"

"Who exactly are you?"

"A friend" was the reply. "Trust me"

"Big favour" Jamie said. She looked at Inque as she slashed at Nick. "But Okay"

"The water mains are connected still to the old hydrants, I can start a flow to them and you can open them" the Oracle said.

Jamie nodded and pulled out her fans, snapping them open. "Just hydrate me Oracle"

Nick crashed into a lamppost. "Fire hydrants" whispered Jamie. "Either side of the road, we can get her, split up"

"Are you sure there's a water flow to them?" Nick asked.

"Trust me" Oracle said from the bank machine.

"That ATM just told me to trust it" Nick muttered.

"Yeah me too, we'll start a club" Jamie said. They darted off in separate directions. Inque was caught unawares. She stretched out in both directions, Nick vaulted her limbs and hurled a batwing knife into the hydrant. The stream of water hit Inque, she screamed as she was diluted. Jamie slicked her fans down and a burst of water hit the other side of Inque, she was forced to one side, her body dribbling away.

"No! NOT AGAIN!" she screamed.

Police car sirens boomed in the distance. "Time to leave" Alley Cat said. "The officers need an ego boost". She vaulted upwards and lashed her whip to a flagpole. Scampering across the roof she scaled the side followed by Dusk. They looked down at the scene. Commissioner Gordon looked up at them.

"Did she just nod at us?" asked Jamie. "In a respectful kind of way? The Commissioner? At us?"

"Come on" Nick said. "I'll drop you home..."

"—Overpowering Inque and driving her into the waiting hands of the GCPD" the TV exploded. Lorraine looked at Max.

"Darling, that was a perfectly good TV"

They were in their crimson and gold mansion outside Gotham. "I am tired of things getting knocked off schedule pookie" he replied. "We want power and this is in our way!"

"But cookie!" she said. "We're ready for them from now on!"

"Of course darling sweetums" he said. "What do you have in mind?"

She kissed him. "Oh you'll see...it's arriving by airmail tonight...to get the two of them to bother someone else for a change".

"I love it when you're evil" he said.

"It's why you married me" she cooed.

TBC

We pick off where we left off next chapter. When something nasty arrives in the East End. Plus Nick and Jamie agree to work together and the Oracle does more for the city. AND in true Catwoman nature, Jamie commits crimes for the benefit of the East End...

Just review.

I'll write a better chapter, this was kind of rushed and I'm ever so sorry for it gov'ner


End file.
